1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a conferencing unit for multi-point communication for carrying out voice-based telephone conferences. Preferred embodiments relate to a conferencing unit, in which the decisions discussed and made by conference participants are requested and stored. Embodiments also relate to a method for carrying out multi-point communication.
2. Background of the Related Art
Telephone conversations with at least three participants are known as teleconferences and are supported by known communication systems as a performance feature.
There are furthermore conference units and conference servers which are known to exceed the range of performance features offered by the aforementioned communication systems. Such conference servers offer, for example, independent dial-in and authentication of the conference participants, an audiovisual or multimedia exchange of user data between conference participants and much more. Modern conference servers follow in particular the general trend of using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology for exchanging and compiling user data from individual conference participants.
Teleconferences are often conducted with the goal of reaching a decision. Depending on the organization, the participants should thereby arrive at a majority decision or a decision should be made by decision-makers in consultation with other conference participants.
The outcome of this decision is then customarily manually entered into minutes or in corresponding electronic documents. Aids for decision making and documentation have not been provided by the conferencing unit until now.